Mail-catcher



MAIL CATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26, 1918.

, 1,330,305. I Patented Feb.10,1920.

x N A TTORNEYS.

{0ODQOO'OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQQOO] UNITED srarns PATENT oFmoE.

FBELERICK E. COYNE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO JOHN W. ESKHOLME, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MAIL-GATCHER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. COYNE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail- Catchers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in mail catching arms for railway carsof a type which is commonly in use, comprising a horizontal shaft extending across the car door and which is rotatable in brackets secured to the door frame and carries an arm which may be swung into position to extend outwardly from the car and receive mail pouches from cranes stationed at the side of the track.

The objects of the invention are to improve the design of such mail catcher for the purpose of enabling it to practically catch a plurality of mail pouches; to provide greater safety for the operator and the equipment; to prevent the pouches from striking against the car door frame and injuring their contents; to provide a construction which will cause the mail pouches to travel a short distance into the car, where they are unaffected by windage; and to provide for gradually bringing the mall pouches to a stop with less jar than occurs in present mail catchers of the same general t e.

in illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an outer side elevation of the device as attached to the frame of a car door.

Fig. 2 shows the mail catching equipment installed in the car, the latter being shown in transverse section.

In a particular prior device of the same general class to which the present invention relates, a single horizontal shaft extends across the car door and carries at an angle of about 25 a pouch catching arm which normally hangs from the shaft, but the latter may be rocked in its bearings to lift the.

catching arm into its horizontally extended position. The inner end of the arm is slight-1y curved to form a recess for receiving Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 26, 1918.

Patented Feb. 10, 1920.

Serial No. 24mm.

and holding a pouch, but this recess does not extend inwardly beyond the shaft.

In the present device, the supporting shaft for the catching arm 1 is made intwo parts or trunnions 2 and 3, which are rotatable in bearings 4 secured to the car door frame. The bearings are of the same desi n and location as those now used, and with which many cars are equipped.

The catching arm 1 and the sh f parts 2 and 3 are rigidly secured to a curved UTshaped casting 5 which in the process of making is preferably cast around the catcher arm and the shafts. Thecasting 5 constitutes a receiver for mail pouches, forwhich purpose it is formed with a runway or slot 6, I The slot 6 extends for a considerable part of its length beyond the supporting shafts at the side which is opposite to the catcher arm 1, and is curved for gradually retarding the motion of mail pouches when traveling along the same from the open end 7 of the slot 6 toward its closed end 8. The slot is formed narrower at its inlet end 7 than at its end 8, for the purpose of checking the motion of mail pouches and properly supporting the last pouch received. The mail receiver 5 is preferably providedwith a flange 9 extending along the sides, of the slot 6 for the purpose of strengthening it- The weight of the part 5 serves to nor-' mally hold the catcher arm 1 in an upright position against the side of the car above the shaft 8. The catching device is rocked to horizontal operative position by means of a cable 10 passing around the sheave 11 attached to the roof of the car. At one end, the cable is secured to a hook 12 engaging the catching deviceat the aperture 13 in the member 5. When thedevice is not in use,

the cable is unhooked from the catcher and may be supported out of the way by a hook 1& on the car wall. One cable is serviceable for a pair of the catching devices, one of the latter being located on each side of the 7 to the'right (Fig. 1) so that the shaft 2 may be inserted in its bearing 4 when the device is pushed to the left until stopped by the rubber buffer 15 on the shaft 2. A retaining device or cotter 16 is then secured tothe' outer end of the shaft 2.

In prior catching devices of this class, the supporting shaft was rocked in its bearing and held by means of -a handle extending from the shaft into the car. Such arrangements at times resulted in accident to the operator, due to the catching arm striking something projecting from a car on an adj acent track. In the operation of the present device, the catcher is rocked to operative po sition by pulling downwardly on the handle 17 of the cable 9. When the arm 1 receives pouches from cranes along the track, the pouches travel along the arm until they reach thenarrow throat 7 of slot 6. Their motion is somewhat retarded in passing through the throat 7 and is further checked as the pouches travel along the curved slot 6. The impact of the pouches is also cushioned by the buffer 15. lVhen the pouches reach the inner end of the slot 6, they are inside of the car, where they are unaffected by the windage and cannot rock against the car door frame and thereby injure packages which are in the pouches. The part 5 of the catching device is so located with respect to its supporting shafts that the pouches will not strike the car door frame when caught by the receiver. 7

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims I claim:

1. A mail catcher, comprising a U-shaped receiver, a transverse shaft for supporting the receiver and rotatably mounted in horizontal bearings to be attached to a car door frame, and a projecting catcher arm extending from said receiver at an angle to said shaft, said receiver and catcher arm being disposed on respectively opposite sides of said shaft.

2A catching device, comprising a receiver member having a slot open at one end, alined horizontal supporting shafts on opposite sides of said member to form a pivotal axis for said catching device, and a catching arm extending from said member at a point adjacent to the open end of the slot, the closed end of said slot and said catching arm being disposed on respectively opposite sides of said pivotal axis.

8. A catching device, comprising a receiver member having an arcuate shaped slot open at one end, horizontal supporting shafts for said member at opposite sides of said slot to form a pivotal axis for said catching device, and a catching arm extending at an angle from said member at a point adjacent to the open end of the slot, the closed end of said arcuate-shaped slot and said catching arm being disposed on respectively opposite sides of said pivotal axis.

4. A mail catching device, comprising a pair of alined horizontal shafts, a bearing for each of said shafts secured to the frame of the car door, a slotted pouch receiver secured between the inner ends of said shafts,

said alinecl shafts forming a pivotal axis for said receiver and a catcher arm secured to said receiver for guiding mail pouches into the slot thereof, said slot and catcher arm being disposed on respectively opposite sides of'said pivotal axis. 7

5. A mail catcher, comprising a pair of alined shafts, a receiver at one side'of said shafts, being secured thereto and having an open throat between their adjacent ends, and a catcher arm at the opposite side of said shafts and leading to said throat.

Signed at lVashington this 25th day of June, 1918.

FREDERICK E. GOYNE. 

